FIFTEEN people are now homeless after their 12-bedroom house was razed by fire in Lautoka on Friday night.
Shiu Kumari, the owner of the house in Waiyavi, said family members lost everything in the fire except for the clothes they were wearing.
Mrs Kumari estimated damage at more than $150,000.
She said the fire started at about 8pm when family members were yarning on the porch. Mrs Kumari said it would take time for the family to fully recover from the incident since the house was not insured.
"Even now we still don't know the cause of the fire and it's painful to see the sweat and hard work of building this house being destroyed in a few minutes," she said.
"We were happy that our house withstood Tropical Cyclone Evan but our hopes were shattered when our house was destroyed by fire."
Mrs Kumari said luckily no one was badly injured in the fire.
The number of house fires recorded so far this year is four, with the latest being at Bau Road in Nausori at about 3pm yesterday.
When firemen from the Nausori Fire Station arrived at the scene, the corrugated iron and timber house was razed to the ground.
The National Fire Authority appealed to the public to be careful and take precautionary measures against fires.